Advent 5: Waiting in Silence

We continue to wait this advent season.  Today’s advent reading comes from the book of Job, chapter 33:29-33.  It reads:

“God does all these things to a person—
    twice, even three times—
³⁰ to turn them back from the pit,
    that the light of life may shine on them.

³¹ “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
    be silent, and I will speak.
³² If you have anything to say, answer me;
    speak up, for I want to vindicate you.
³³ But if not, then listen to me;
    be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.” (NRSV)

Our church is reading Finding Bethlehem in the Midst of Bedlam, by James Moore, this advent season. Our lives fill up more and more with bedlam.  My church members define bedlam as noisy and complete chaos.  What a gift silence can be in the midst of all of that. 

 More and more through this season of life I hear God calling me to be still, wait and most recently to be silent.  This theme of silence came through this past Sunday as we looked at the story of Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father.  Zechariah had a question about how we recognize the voice of God.  Part of the answer was that Zechariah became mute.  Some people see that as a punishment for his questioning.  I don’t.  I believe that Zechariah’s silence was a gift that enabled him to have closer communication with God. 

We hear this theme of the benefit of silence here in the words in Job.  Job is one of my favorite books of the Bible.  Most people associate Job with patience.  I, however, associate Job with questions and with conversation with God.  In Job we find that it is okay to go to God with our deepest questions.  In Job we find a God that is present in the darkest moments ready to listen to our questions and respond. 

In this little portion of Job, we find a promise that God will repeatedly pursue us to help us out of the pits of life, to bring light back into our lives that have been permeated by darkness.  Listen to what he tells Job.  “Be SILENT, and I will speak.”  “Be SILENT, and I will teach you wisdom.” 

A few posts back I introduced the concept of centering prayer to you.  My uncle and another mentor have both been suggesting this practice to me for some time.  I felt called yesterday to begin this as a daily practice.  I thought it would be hard to sit in silence for 20 minutes.  I thought it would be awkward.  I lit candles in the house and darkened the house except for the candle light.  I centered myself on the word love as I filled my heart, lungs and body with breath through my nose and exhaled through my mouth; I breathed in love and I exhaled love.  Anytime a thought invaded my mind, I let it pass through and again inhaled and exhaled love.  Love turned to joy.  Joy turned to peace and when the 30 minutes ended I opened my eyes to the beauty of the candlelight surrounded me and I felt contentment.  I had clarity in that moment that living in the present was the best gift I could give myself. 

Won’t you take a moment out of the bedlam of life and practice silence.  You will meet God there, I can guarantee.  In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Advent 4: Waiting with birth pangs.

        

        Romans 8:18-25 describes another kind of waiting.  The waiting this world does for the full redemption in Jesus Christ.  The waiting for that time when God’s Kingdom is fully realized.  This passage of scripture describes a world that is suffering and in decay.  We read this passage on the hills of yet another mass shooting here in our own country.  We are reminded that the violence that is being ravaged across the world is also present right here in our back yard.  We wait and we wonder if that day will ever come when swords will be turned to plowshares. 

The writer doesn’t only speak of the world wide suffering.  He also speaks of the inner suffering we each deal with.  That inner suffering may be a broken relationship, an addiction we fight, grief over the loss of a loved one, or a lost job.  The list can go on. 

In advent we not only remember the waiting for the birth of the Messiah but we look ahead to that day when Christ comes in all of his glory to fully redeem this world.  The writer compares it to birth pangs.  Talk to any mother who has suffered birth pangs and she will tell you that as painful as that was, the end result of that baby being placed in her arms washes all that pain away. 

So we look forward to that day that day.  This day is described in the book of Isaiah.  Those days will be a day when “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.  They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lor as the waters cover the sea.”  Isaiah 11:6-9.  Dear God, Let it be so. 

Advent 3: When God Renders Us Speechless

Luke 1:22 says about Zechariah:  “When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary.  He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak.” (NRSV)   I wonder when the last time was that God rendered us speechless.  When was the last time God stirred us so much that people could tell that we had just experienced God? 

This scripture takes me back a few years to when a dear friend’s precious mother had spent many days in the ICU with her life hanging in the balance.  On this particular day the doctor had called the family in to make a decision about a potentially life saving surgery that he feared she would not live through.  The family had to make a choice.  She was sure to die without the surgery but was likely not to make it through the surgery.  The family did not feel like they had any choice.  They wanted to opt for the best chance of life no matter how small that chance was. 

The scene was quite remarkable.  Family members and friends from all walks of life had gathered.  The ICU waiting room overflowed out into the hall with people who had great love and admiration for this woman.  Her life was in the hands of this surgeon, and more importantly in the hands of God.  My faith was weak, I must admit.  Things didn’t look good and I am not one to want to give people a hope for them only to be devastated and crushed when that hope is not realized.  I had no words.  I knew though.  I knew that as a pastor I was expected to say a prayer.  As the doctors wheeled her out of the ICU I stopped them.  I laid my hands on her, told her in her comatose state who I was and I prayed.  I can’t tell you what I prayed.  What I can tell you is that the energy that flowed through my body that night was an energy outside of myself.  What I can tell you is that as I said Amen and turned to look around at the circle of hands joined together, I knew what faith community looked like.  I can tell you that when I saw that picture I crumbled in thanksgiving to God who holds us in the midst of the questions.  In that moment I was speechless.  In that moment I had experienced God. 

Thanks be to God she survived the surgery.  Thanks be to God she was given several more years to be with her children, her mother and her grandchildren.  Thanks be to God today she watches over them all from her place in heaven.  Thanks be to God for God’s presence in all of it.   God breaking into the messiness of life.  Come thou Long Expectant Jesus…..In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

Advent Ponderings 2: Zechariah: Blameless yet still Questioning-Given the gift of silence

                As I continue to look at the story of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, I am struck that he is described by the author of Luke as being a priest and a righteous man in the sight of God.  It is said that both he and Elizabeth “observe the commands and decrees of God, blamelessly.  Yet, it was this man who questioned God.  I think Luke was very clear about Zechariah’s faith so that we might know that yes, people of great faith, people who are even described as blameless, have questions for God and that is okay.  Zechariah asks the Angel “how do I know?”  Zechariah, the priest.  Zechariah, the one who has been chosen to father the one who would make sure people are prepared to receive the LORD.  Zechariah, the one who follows all of God’s decrees perfectly.  Zechariah questioned…How do I know? 

                Many people look upon what happens next as a punishment.  I am wondering if it were not a gift.  The Angel tells Zechariah this:   ^“And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”(Luke 1:20)  I wonder if God wasn’t given Zechariah the gift of silence so he could hear the directions of the LORD.

                God has given me very clear directions over the last couple of months to be still and to wait.  It is hard to be still and wait and to HEAR over our own voice.  Sometimes to hear God’s voice we must practice being quiet.  Centering/Contemplative Prayer has been one way Christians throughout the ages have found their way to a position of being able to listen for God’s voice.   I have provided a link to a website that has much information on contemplative prayer. Click here to be directed to that website.  This is one tool that I plan to begin using in my own spiritual journey of learning to be still, and wait.    

Advent Ponderings 1: Waiting for Answers

Advent is a season for waiting.  Waiting is hard.  Waiting is sometimes necessary.  I have a friend that always reminds me “in God’s time.” This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent and at my church we talked about the prophecy of hope Jeremiah gave to the Israelites who were in exile after the Jerusalem temple had been destroyed in 587 B.C.  We talked about the hope that Jesus gave the disciples in the face of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D.  You see as we face the uncertainties of our day, wondering where the violence is going to strike next both home and abroad, we face those uncertainties knowing that this is nothing new.  You see evil has existed in the world throughout time.  What the Israelites faced in 587 B.C. and what Christians faced in 70 A.D., we face today, in 2015.  The assurance we have is that God is present and God redeems.  That is the hope we stand tall in. 

                This week as we move toward the second Sunday of Advent we remember the promise of God to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.  When told that he would have a son who would prepare the way for Jesus, Zechariah asked a question that we all ask.  “How Do I know?”  I have asked this question many times myself.  I have heard the question asked repeatedly.  How do we know that it is God’s voice we hear? How do we know that God’s promises are true?  How do we know? 

                Today’s scripture reading in the devotional book A Guide To Prayer for Those Who Seek God, speaks to that question.  Hear the words of the prophet Isaiah:

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and mu right is disregarded by my God?”  Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  (Isaiah 40:27-31, NRSV)

                What decisions are you facing today?  Are you trying to face them on your own? Are you trying to rush them?  Are you trying to manipulate things and people to bring about the results that you desire?  Are you tired, weak and worn?  When we are facing a question of life, we must wait on the LORD.  When we try to handle it on our own.  When out of our impatience we pick it back up and try to solve it by our own ways, we will surely grow tired, weak and worn.  Yes, waiting is hard…..but doing it ourselves is harder. 

                So take those questions and decisions you have and pray this prayer that is the prayer for the week in A Guide to Prayer…God, in you only do I find the answer to the questions that perplex and confuse me.  Yet I know that in your good time the answer will be made to me.  Give me grace, dear God, to live with my questions until you are pleased to make my way clear.